History is not neutral. It is shaped by memory, power, and identity. Australia holds both pride and shame. First Nations peoples show strength and carry pain. Colonisation began with invasion. Its effects still shape lives today. This article asks how we should feel about a national past. It treats pride and shame as moral positions, not only emotions. It employs moral luck to explain why we are not held accountable for past harms, but we are still responsible for our response to them. It also treats national identity as a story that we can revise. The paper reviews the concepts of truth-telling, apology, and reform. It looks at inquiries and commissions. It notes the debate over Australia Day. It shows how trauma continues in health, education, and justice. It also shows how healing grows through culture, language, and Country. The article argues for truth-telling across schools, services, and policy. It promotes cultural safety in healthcare, and it supports voice and treaty work. Shame should not freeze action. It should push action. Pride should not hide harm. It should rest on truth. The goal is to fulfil a civic duty by facing the past and building a fairer future.
Akena, F. A. (2012). Critical Analysis of the Production of Western Knowledge and Its Implications for Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization. JournalofBlackStudies,43, 599-619.
[4]
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) (2024). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Strategy. https://www.ahpra.gov.au/About-Ahpra/Aboriginal-and-Torres-Strait-Islander-Health-Strategy/CS-ACPD-Project
[5]
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2023). AdultPrisoners:AboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderPeople. Australian Government. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/adult-prisoners
[6]
Bennett, B., and Gates, T. G. (2022). Decolonization and Trauma-Informed Truth-Telling about Indigenous Australia in a Social Work Diversity Course: A Cultural Safety Approach. JournalofEthnic&CulturalDiversityinSocialWork,32, 137-152.
[7]
Black, J., & MacRaild, D. (2017). (4th ed.). Palgrave Macmillan.
[8]
Commonwealth of Australia (1997). BringingThemHome:NationalInquiryintotheSeparationofAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderChildrenfromTheirFamilies. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/social_justice/bringing_them_home_report.pdf
[9]
Department of Education, Skills and Employment (2019). AliceSprings(Mparntwe)EducationDeclaration. https://www.education.gov.au/alice-springs-mparntwe-education-declaration
[10]
Edwards-Groves, C. (2023). The Sand through My Fingers: Finding Aboriginal Cultural Voice, Identity and Agency on Country. In K. E. Reimer, M. Kaukko, S. Windsor, K. Mahon, & S. Kemmis (Eds.), LivingWellinaWorldWorthLivinginforAll (pp. 87-114). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7985-9_6
[11]
Hand, S., & Short, D. (2024). Indigenous Rights and Reconciliation: Lessons from Australia. In S. Lightfoot, & S. Maddison (Eds.), HandbookofIndigenousPublicPolicy (pp. 308-331). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800377011.00026
[12]
Harrison, N., & Sellwood, J. (2021). LearningandTeachinginAboriginalandTorresStraitIslanderEducation (4th ed.). Oxford University Press.
[13]
Holt, L., & Perry, J. (2023). Shaping the Narratives—Indigenous Knowledges through Storying. In M. Vicars, & L. Pelosi (Eds.), Storying Pedagogy as Critical Praxis in the Neoliberal University (pp. 29-47). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-4246-6_3
[14]
Margalit, A. (1996). TheDecentSociety. Harvard University Press.
[15]
Mencevska, I. (2020). Truth Telling in Australia’s Historical Narrative. NEW:EmergingscholarsinAustralianIndigenousStudies,5. https://doi.org/10.5130/nesais.v5i1.1552
[16]
Pes, A. (2019). Different Shades of Shame. the Responsibilities and Legacies of a Shameful History in Australian Fiction. In D. Attwell, A. Pes, & S. Zinato (Eds.), PoeticsandPoliticsofShameinPostcolonialLiterature (pp. 122-137). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429201653-6
[17]
Reconciliation Australia (2025). CommunityTruth-TellingPathways. https://www.reconciliation.org.au/our-work/truth-telling/
[18]
Sheehan, N. (2004). IndigenousKnowledgeandHigherEducation:InstigatingRelationalEducationinaNeocolonialContext. Master’s Thesis, University of Queensland.
[19]
Taylor, C. (1989). SourcesoftheSelf:TheMakingoftheModernIdentity. Harvard University Press.
[20]
Walke, E., Townsend-Cross, M. L., Garay, J., Matthews, V., Dickson, M., Edwards, D. et al. (2024). Where Our Identity Lies: Confirmation of Aboriginality—Narratives of Colonial and Lateral Violence. AlterNative:AnInternationalJournalofIndigenousPeoples,20, 3-11. https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801241235756
[21]
Williams, B. (1973). MoralLuck: Philosophical Papers 1973-1980. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139165860
[22]
Willmot, J., Hamer, J., Riggs, D. W., & Rosenberg, S. (2023). Healing from Intergenerational Trauma: Narratives of Connection, Belonging, and Truth-Telling in Two Aboriginal Healing Camps. SettlerColonialStudies,14, 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/2201473x.2023.2260547
[23]
Young, S., Zubrzycki, J., Green, S., Jones, V., Stratton, K., & Bessarab, D. (2013). “Getting It Right: Creating Partnerships for Change”: Developing a Framework for Integrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Knowledges in Australian Social Work Education. JournalofEthnicandCulturalDiversityinSocialWork,22, 179-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/15313204.2013.843120
